The 13th round of the Coupe de France took place on a 201.2km circular tour of Châteauroux with temperatures at times in excess of 40° C. From the drop of the flag the attacks came thick and fast with Brazilian “coureur” in the form of Rafael Andriato taking the honours in a bunch sprint on the celebrated finishing strait of the Avenue de La Châtre.
148 riders signed on and took the “départ réel” in the village of Clavieres. A breakaway formed almost straight away. A one minute thirty second gap was quickly achieved which caused a reaction in the peloton. This reaction caused a split midway in the pack, as had happened in last week’s final stage of the Tour du Limousin – where most of these riders had toiled under the same blistering heatwave currently being experienced in central France. The gap between the two pelotons grew rapidly and after 75km, at the killer 22% gradient climb at Perassay, there were distinct time gaps between the 3 groups on the road. The climb was difficult for all but the fittest; Landbouwkrediet’s Gilles Devillers showed his climbing prowess again by securing the Citroen challenge trophy after last weeks maillot à poids in the Limousin. Antony Ravard the winner of the last two editions was dropped after this test and was soon to abandon.
As the riders approached Châteauroux once again it was clear that the second peloton was spent and 72 riders abandoned the “épreuve”. On the finishing circuit’s five tours all attacks were negated and the inevitable sprint was set up. The current leader of the Coupe de France Cofidis’s sprinter Samuel Dumoulin was celebrating his birthday and was looking to strengthen his lead at the top of the table. He was well placed but managed only 12th place on the line adding 5 points to his tally which gives him a 37 point lead over his nearest rival Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) who abandoned the race.
As the riders sped toward the “Arrivée”, jostling for position, Andriato, the 21 year old Brazilian from Mario Cippolini’s Farnese Vini squad, popped clear of the rest to take the sprint ahead of FDJ’s Belarussian National champion Yauheni Hutarovich and Europcar’s Yohann Gene.
The young Brazilian was pleased with his performance on the day and was still gripped by Olympic fever, saying he is building his career towards the road race at the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in his native land in Rio de Janeiro.
The Classic de l’Indre Trophée Fenioux
1 ANDRIATO Rafael FAR 4h 35’ 50”
2 HUTAROVICH Yauheni FDJ st
3 GENE Yohann EUR st
4 HAEDO Lucas STB st
5 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas LPM st
6 BACQUET Fabian AUB st
7 LEMOINE Cyril SAU st
8 PLANCKAERT Baptiste LAN st
9 JARRIER Benoit VRU st
10 DELAROZIERE Mathieu LPM st
11 HONIG Reiner LAN st
12 DUMOULIN Samuel COF st
13 FONSECA Armindo BSC st
14 DEMPSTER Zakkari EDR st
15 BOULO Matthieu RLM st
16 DELPECH Jean-Luc BSC st
17 HABEAUX Grégory ACC st
18 OLEJNIK Tomasz VRU st
19 DESRIAC Loic RLM st
20 BELLEMAKERS Dirk LAN st